Game Notes vs. Elmhurst

WAUKESHA, Wis. - After two consecutive road losses, the Carroll University football team returns to the friendly confines of Schneider Stadium this weekend against Elmhurst in what will double as the Pioneers' annual Homecoming celebration.

"Homecoming provides an opportunity for a lot of distractions, so we have to keep our players focused on the task at hand," Carroll Head Football Coach Mike Budziszewski said. "It's always a great crowd for Homecoming. This year, the weather will play a factor, but there should still be great energy at Schneider Stadium on Saturday. Our players are pretty excited to get this game going."

This will be the 37th meeting on the gridiron between Carroll and Elmhurst, with the Pioneers leading the all-time series 22-14. Carroll enters this weekend with a 3-2 record (2-2 CCIW), while Elmhurst is 1-4, still looking for their first conference victory. In this matchup however, you can throw the records out the window, as the last five meetings have each been decided by three points or less. The Pioneers have won the last two meetings by a combined five points, including a three-point win in double overtime last season.

"Elmhurst has played us tough every year I've been here," Budziszewski said. "They have a new coaching staff, so they're in a transitional period right now where they're figuring out who they're going to be. They're still a good CCIW football team, so we'll have to be as prepared as we ever have been."

Already with the top teams in the CCIW in the rear view mirror of their schedule, Elmhurst is averaging 10.4 points per game and 194 yards of total offense. That includes an average of 153 passing yards and 41 rushing yards per game. Defensively, Elmhurst has allowed 44.8 points per game, while allowing an average of nearly 400 yards of total offense to opponents.

"They have some really good players on the defensive side of the ball and offensively, we have to be prepared for everything," Budziszewski said. "It's going to be a really good game and hopefully we can come away with a Homecoming victory."

When Carroll has the ball, they will look to continue their high-octane offense that has thrown for 312 yards per game, which ranks 16th in all of NCAA Division-III. They are led by trigger-man Josh Raby, who is on pace to snap Carroll's single season passing yardage record, needing less than 1,000 yards to eclipse the 22-year-old mark. The quarterback's top receiver, fellow Senior Austin Eichstaedt also is on pace to obliterate the Pioneers' single season receiving yardage record. Eichstaedt currently ranks fifth in Division-III with 145 receiving yards per game, and needs just 542  yards in the final five contests to become the new record-holder.

"We're right where we should be, talent-wise, at the mid-way point in the season. We have five more games on the schedule and we match up well against all of them," Budziszewski said. "If we execute like we can, we have a chance to go out and play a tough second half of the season, which is what we talked about after last week's loss. I like our chances down the stretch, especially when we get the team close to full strength and get some players back from injury."

With projected rain and high winds in the forecast for Saturday, the Pioneers may have to lean on their running game a bit more, which is averaging 144 yards per game and four yards per carry on the season.

"We ran the ball pretty well last week, but it has been tough because we've had a lot of injuries at the running back position," Budziszewski said. "We're getting healthy now, so we're looking forward to doing whatever we need to do to win this game. Whether that's on the ground or through the air, we'll be prepared for both styles of game."

One record that has a chance to fall on Saturday is on special teams, where Senior kicker Jacob Laurent is just one field goal shy of the school's career record for field goals. He currently has 23 in his four years with the team, and is 8-for-10 on the season. That also puts him two field goals shy of Carroll's single season record.

One area that Carroll would like to get back to dominating is their rush defense, which had allowed less than 20 yards per game through the first three games of the season. That has changed the past two weeks as they have faced better running teams, but the Pioneers will look to continue to make improvements this weekend against Elmhurst.

"We made some mistakes last week and we're looking to correct those," Budziszewski said. "Our run defense is stout, but when you play the best rushing offense in the country like we did last week, they're going to gain some yards. We still have a solid defense, and we're looking to show that on Saturday."

Saturday's game will begin at 1 p.m. at Schneider Stadium, and can be seen live at https://gopios.com/watch/?Live=135&type=Live.